Taunton’s Paula Farrales has spent the last few weeks working as a volunteer for the American Red Cross to help thousands of New York City residents effected by Hurricane Sandy.

“I’m going around Manhattan looking for places that we have missed that still need services,” said Farrales, in a phone interview on Monday afternoon. “A lot of people still don’t have power. We are providing food, blankets, comfort kits and giving them other resources.”

Farrales said she is among 3,000 American Red Cross volunteers who were sent to New York. Farrales is set to return to Taunton on Wednesday, she said, after arriving in New York on Nov. 2.

“We are putting in a lot of hours,” Farrales said. “It’s very tiring, walking, driving, whatever you can do to reach the people. Transportation was hard at the beginning. New York is very tough because it is so spread out, but traffic is very congested. It’s hard to get the supplies in. And it’s just so many people.”

Farrales said that the need to support relief efforts is high, especially as Thanksgiving and the winter holidays approach.

“People need to start thinking about helping out over here because Thanksgiving is coming and the holidays,” Farrales said. “And the kids lost all their school supplies and backpacks. Maybe people can start thinking about the holidays and helping out at least just the kids. The kids are our future. They need some help.”

Farrales went to New York after volunteering at a shelter in Fall River during Hurricane Sandy. Farrales is going to be with fellow volunteers at the Fall River Fire Department Headquarters building at 7 p.m. on Wednesday to be honored by the people from City Hall for their work running the shelter during the storm.

Farrales said power outages continue to plague New York City. She said one building she has visited daily is called Knickerbocker Village, with 16 units, which needs continuous help because there are many elderly people there who can’t use the stairs while the elevator as there is no electricity.

“They haven’t had any power since the storm, no heat, no hot water, and there are a lot of the people there,” she said. “It’s a high rise building with a lot of Chinese and elderly.”

Farrales said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has ordered power generators for the building.

“I’ve been there everyday,” she said. “We’ve been handing out blankets everyday. It’s been really cold.”

Farrales said residents without power are starting to get a bit testy about the ongoing problems.

“They are running out of patience,” she said. “They have been cold. They are running out of patience and they feel like they have been forgotten. ... Your heart would just break and you want to do everything you can to ease the pain they are going through. You have tenants there who have diabetes and other medical issues and they can’t go outside because they can’t go down the stairs. It’s still a very serious situation.”

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Farrales is a longtime Red Cross volunteer who has helped out in several natural disasters, starting in Louisiana with Hurricane Katrina. Most recently before Sandy, Farrales was sent to Florida as a Red Cross volunteer helping out deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac.

To volunteer to the Red Cross or to learn about volunteering, call 1-800-REDCROSS or visit www.RedCross.org.